Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Alas and Alack, or "When It's Time to Hiatus"

I mentioned to my husband the other day that the reason we don't exercise anymore is because we spend our spare time playing Warcraft instead.

He agreed.

It made me think about the wisdom of continuing to play a game that keeps you from being as healthy as you can. Sure, some people strap laptops to their treadmills, but most of us don't have that kind of dedication (insanity?).

But this isn't about cutting back or even stopping cold turkey. This is about hitting a point in real life where you need to cut out all distractions and focus.

So, today, husband and I canceled our subscriptions.

It was sudden but necessary. We plan to revisit the option to resubscribe in January.

Considering the game is the only way we see my husband's best friend anymore, this is far from a permanent situation. So please wish us luck in real life so we can get back to our virtual one.

I was probably a little confusing -- it's not just exercise we need to focus on, our RL work is getting pretty intense. Husband mentioned all the hobbies he used to have and how he doesn't do any of them anymore because of WoW.

It's that sort of thing that I'm talking about when I say we're focusing. Life.

I did exactly this a few months back. I took a month away from Warcraft entirely to focus on other life matters. I then only resubscribed when I had a clear intention of how I was going to play the game. I run occasional heroics, pursue PvP achievements that I can dip in and out of as I please, help others by Tanking things I don't really need or with achievements - but no dedicated raiding like I used to. (Immortal title/black drake/ulduar cleared)

When you think of a game and think 'I need to do such and such a thing today' or 'I need to make this blog article today', thats the time to quit. Do it when you can, and only when you genuinely can afford the time and money. Also do it because you want to, not because you feel you have to. Under these circumstances it can be an incredibly enjoyable game :)

As Sarayana said, I do indeed hope you can find a good balance of fun game playing alongside life work / hobbies and as Viktor said, I admire your will power. Stick to it for the time you have committed to, come back refreshed and you may enjoy life and a bit of WoW playing a whole lot more. :)

I know. :( That's the saddest part for me. But I'm getting a lot of work done, closing down my old website and updating my professional one and querying literary agents. I've been meaning to put up my new layout for months now.

As for you, I highly recommend wowwiki for your holiday needs. Check the Pilgrim's Bounty page on the first day for up-to-the-minute info, usually including map points.

I've been playing since January '07 and have several less awesome characters. My real life profession is writing, and I've been married since my junior year of college. Whenever that was.

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Contrary to popular belief, my favorite color is not, in fact, pink. It's blue. But in a game built mainly for guys, I get excited about any girly additions and consider it my duty and my pleasure to gush over them.